


In the Still of the Night

by NEStar



Category: Sanditon (TV 2019)
Genre: 6 Sanditon Valentines, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED, Tumblr: Sanditon Creative
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22694932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NEStar/pseuds/NEStar
Summary: Modern AU set in California, with a sudden summer squall washing out the road Sidney and Charlotte are forced to find shelter. The AirBnB listing said two beds but does it really count if one is an air mattress?
Relationships: Charlotte Heywood/Sidney Parker
Comments: 18
Kudos: 138





	In the Still of the Night

Sanditon Springs was remote, that was one of its main advertising points. A place you have to know about, where it was more common for visitors to arrive by boat or helicopter then car.

Which was wonderful when you were writing ad copy but not when you were trying to navigate the one road out of town in a crappy Toyota with your boss' brother driving and a summer storm threatening to wash out the blacktop.

“I think we might have to call it, Parker,” Charlotte said after the third weather alert came over her phone.

“Well what do you suggest? Because it's going to be just as bad trying to go back.”

She took a deep breath, “Well, it's kind of sketchy but I found an AirBnB just twenty miles from here.”

“Sketchy how?”

“It claims to be a detached In-Law cottage, but there aren't any pictures of the outside so...”

From the driver's seat Sidney Parker let out a large sigh, “But it looks clean, right? We're not going to leave this place with Hepatitis or Dysentery?”

“No, so why don't you pull over and we can pray that the owner is able to answer right away and let us in.”

* * *

Fate was with her on timing, the host lived in the main house and answered within five minutes of Charlotte putting in the request.

Fate was not with her when it came to actually looking at the place.

“Okay, it's clean enough but...” Sidney trailed off.

“What?” Charlotte popped her head out of the bathroom where she had been searching for the promised hair dryer.

“Where's the second bed?”

“Not in the bathroom,” she answered.

“Yeah, well...” Sidney ran his hand through his hair, which was still wet enough that the action caused it to spike a bit, “It's also not in the bedroom and not hiding in the sofa.”

Charlotte grabbed her phone and sent a quick message to Betty. The answer quickly pinged back and it left her colder than the dash through the rain had.

“It's...” she started.

“What?”

“It's folded up on the shelf in the closet.”

Sidney just stared at her for a moment, a muscle twitching in his jaw, then spun on his heel and walked briskly into the bedroom.

Charlotte followed him, “If you get it down, then I'll sleep on it.”

Sidney turned around, a lump of misshapen plastic in his hand. “I think this thing is older than the both of us combined.”

“Um...” She quickly glanced over at the queen size bed that dominated the small bedroom. “I'm sure it still works.”

Sidney gave her that look again, “I get that it's not ideal but I think you know me well enough to know that I'm not going to try and ravish you in your sleep.”

And that was the problem, because Charlotte would gladly give up a kidney for Sidney Parker to ravish her.

* * *

The bed was big enough for both of them but somehow the blanket was not.

Charlotte let out a sigh and managed to drag another inch onto her side, just enough to fully cover her torso. Not even two minutes later the edge of the blanket shifted back, baring a sliver of skin to the cool air of the room.

“Oh my god!” she exclaimed, “It's your fault we're in this mess in the first place, why can't I get enough blankets from you to cover my ass!”

“My fault?” Sidney snapped back, “How do you figure that?”

“Somehow I got talked into driving you back, I was planning on leaving right after the last race but you weren't ready to go for another three hours.”

Sidney scoffed, “Oh, now I'm to blame because I needed to help my brother? I thought I didn't do that enough? Which is it Miss Heywood?”

She flipped over to face him, “If you had told him you were flying back to LA with your girlfriend Tom would have been over the moon. All that time to get confirmation of memberships from her guests. It would have been more helpful than you nearly breaking your neck trying to take down a banner.”

“What?!” Sidney rolled over to face her.

Charlotte felt a rush of shame wash over her, “I went too far, I'm sorry. Of course you can spend whatever time you want with your family. I just – ”

“No,” he cut her off, “I mean, what girlfriend?”

“Oh please!” It was her turn to scoff, “Eliza all but peed on you to mark her claim.”

“Oh please!” he mimicked her tone, “Like you were any better. Batting your eyes at Stringer and then swooning when he asked you up to his room to see his sketches.”

“They were the blueprints for the new boathouse!”

Charlotte took a firm hold on the blankets and yanked, rolling over to turn away from Sidney before she said something that really crossed a line.

However, Sidney had kept a grip on his edge and was yanked right along. Charlotte's roll ended up with her on her back and Sidney half on top of her.

She shifted her leg, trying to free herself, and Sidney hissed. She froze, suddenly realizing exactly what was poking into her thigh.

“Is that..” the thought came out before she could stop herself.

“If you don't know, then we have a much bigger problem then Stringer's one hundred year old pick up line.” Sidney lifted himself off of her and flopped back onto his side, looking resolutely at the wall.

Charlotte's mind raced. Sidney wasn't dating Eliza. Sidney had been watching her over the weekend, enough that he knew James had asked her up to his room. Sidney was currently in bed with her and sporting a rather impressive erection.

“Sidney?” she said softly.

“I didn't stay because of... I mean,” he let out a large sigh. “I know that I'm not perfect. And I'm sure you'd be more than ready to list off all my faults, but...”

Charlotte held her breath.

“Being around that crowd just makes me more of an ass. But whenever I see you looking at me... It's like you can see the perfect version that I could be and you're disappointed that I'm not him. But at the same time, I am. I become my best self, my truest self, when I'm around you. So, the chance to ride back to LA with you...” he trailed off.

She slowly reached her hand out and laid it on his back. Sidney tensed for a second before rolling over to look at her.

Her hand was now resting on his chest and she slowly ran it down his arm until her fingers were tangled with his. “At the Gala, when we were dancing, I thought that maybe...”

“I wanted to kiss you,” he confessed softly.

“Why didn't you?” she asked.

He huffed, “All of our interactions seem to end up in a massive argument. I wasn't going to kiss you just because you had gone a whole hour without yelling at me.”

She shifted a little closer, “What if it's only been five minutes but you ask nicely?”

Even with the space separating them, she could feel him freeze, could nearly see the muscle twitching in his jaw.

“Charlotte?”

“Yes.”

His lips were so soft on her's, she nearly cried from the sweetness of it. He pulled away after just a moment but she followed, her mouth catching his again. At this Sidney's arm wrapped around her, pulling her into his chest.

Charlotte shifted even closer, sliding her leg up and over his until...

“God, Charlotte!”

She smiled to herself and then moved her lips to his jaw, kissing the spot where that muscle always jumped. Then she left a drifting line of kisses up to his ear and down to his neck before pulling back and catching his eyes. “I know you said you wouldn't ravish me in my sleep, but what if I'm awake?”

Sidney growled and pulled her back to him.

When the blanket slipped into the floor a few minutes later, neither one of them seemed to care.


End file.
